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February 8, 2013 (Edit)

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Tuesdays February 12-April 9, 2013 Yoga of Awakening Foundation Course with Geri Portnoy and Greg Aurand

August 31, 2012 (Edit)

** Register Now **

Feb. 12 – April 9, 2013
9 week course meets Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 pm
** Course limited to 12 Participants **

It is the fundamental urge to evolve that leads an acorn to become an oak tree, a caterpillar to become a butterfly, and a human being to awaken in wholeness. David Whyte, the great contemporary poet once said, “We are the only part of creation that has forgotten how to be itself.”

Yoga of Awakening is about stepping into your own personal path of awakening to all of who you really are—Right now, just as how your are! Your conditioning is not an obstacle in this radical awakening process. There's no need to inexhaustibly practice, perfect, and purify your way into enlightenment, in fact, relaxing your efforts to work "on" yourself actually supports your awakening into wholeness.

Come together with others who have a deep hunger for personal evolution and dive into the deep heart of community – a community that has the capacity to fully hold you-without judgment or well-meaning advice-exactly as you are.

Discover for yourself the radiant aliveness that lies beneath that discomfort, when no one is trying to change you or make you wrong for feeling what you feel or being who you are. Discover your own authenticity, radiance, power, beauty and the true freedom of Awakening.

"True spirituality is not a high, not a rush, not an altered state. It’s been fine to romance it for a while, but our times call for something far more real, far more grounded and responsible; something radically alive and naturally integral; something that shakes us to our very core until we stop treating spiritual deepening as a something to dabble in here and there. Authentic spirituality is not some little flicker or buzz of knowingness, nor a psychedelic blast-through or a mellow hanging-out on some exalted plane of consciousness, not a bubble of immunity, but a vast fire of liberation, an exquisitely fitting crucible and sanctuary, providing both heat and light for the healing and awakening we need." —Robert Augustus Masters, Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters

This 9-week guided exploration includes some outside class assignments: short readings and videos, light practices, and journaling. We will ll investigate 3 Major Themes:

Waking - Exploring Consciousness, and the seamless nature of Onlyness
Down - Experiencing awakened consciousness in every cell of your body
Mutuality - Enjoying deep connection and the quickening qualities of group dynamics

Total Cost: $309 ** Course limited to 12 Participants **

($180 class fee to enroll and $129 in course materials. Partial scholarships are available. If you are interested, please contact Julie, moc.ramledagoynull@eiluj, for more information.)

This course will not be held at Yoga Del Mar. Once you enroll you will be sent course information, including the meeting place address and a link where you can purchase the course materials prior to the first session on Feb. 12, 2013.

Register Now for Yoga of Awakening Foundation Course

ABOUT GERI: Geri Portnoy is the founder and director of Yoga Del Mar. She holds a Master’s degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, is a Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher [RYT 500], a certified MELT instructor and a Waking Down in Mutuality teacher. She is an articulate, compassionate, dedicated yoga teacher who creates a sacred space for the beautiful expansion and emergent awakening of her students.

ABOUT GREG: Greg Aurand is an experienced group leader, a Field Center Certified facilitator, and a Certified Gene Keys™ Guide. He has been involved in Waking Down in Mutuality—a process that produces consistent, stable realization of non-separate Conscious Embodiment—since 2004. Greg has a passion for emerging paths and practices that accelerate and precipitate self-realization and significant leaps in consciousness.

Want The Change . . . Rainer Maria Rilke

April 1, 2012 (Edit)

Want the Change. Be inspired by the flame where everything shines as it disappears. The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much as the curve of the body as it turns away.

What locks itself in sameness has congealed. Is it safer to be gray and numb? What turns hard becomes rigid and is easily shattered.

Pour yourself out like a fountain. Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.

Every happiness is the child of a separation it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming a laurel, dares you to become the wind.

– Rainer Maria Rilke, The Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII

Filed Under: Themes Tagged With: Change, Rainer Maria Rilke, stability not rigidity, The Sonnets to Orpheus, Want the change

Hedy Schleifer: The Power of Connection

July 29, 2011 (Edit)

Filed Under: Videos

Opening Your Heart to Love

February 14, 2011 (Edit)

Opening Your Heart Through Yoga

“Opening your heart to love” is an amazing invitation, but if it were so easy, why aren’t we all doing it already? As we well know, most of the ideas that are the simplest to express and comprehend are the hardest to actually achieve. Just like following the Golden Rule or resolving to loose ten pounds, “opening your heart to love” is easier said than done. So what makes this so hard?

It is easy to get caught up in fear, or the perhaps the idea that I’ve been hurt so much in the past makes love difficult. I don’t want to risk loving again or I may be stuck by the thought that I am unlovable. It is hard to “lean into the sharp points,” as Pema Chodron, the Buddhist nun likes to say, but the benefits and rewards are so worthwhile. Sometimes it takes a broken heart to truly prepare us to open and the practice of yoga sustains and increases that opening.

Our yoga practice is another vehicle for learning the skills to open up to love and do the risk taking to be “love.” In urdhva danurasana I trust the ground under me and my arms to support me, even as I totally expose my heart to the world. My head recedes into the background as my heart reaches for the sky—everything is upended, kind of like what happens in love. While backbends are a great medium for being in the metaphor of heart- opening there are many poses that teach me to love myself and to be more present.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles

Endings and New Beginnings

January 7, 2011 (Edit)

By Tamsin Thoren

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
~ Seneca – Roman Philosopher

Sun Rise From Outer Space I have a very simple ritual that I have practiced each New Year for several years. I write down my intentions for the coming year; yes, it’s that simple. I include other practices and ceremony along with and surrounding this ritual. The core of the practice, however, is the writing down of intentions. Those intentions chart out a roadmap for my heart and soul that will guide my actions throughout the coming year. I share this practice with my partner and we support each other in holding space for realization of each other’s unfolding.

The intentions may include short-term goals or long-term goals that may not be completed in the coming year. They may be simple little things like drinking enough water or they may be grand goals like completing a training or opening a business. Perhaps the intentions are quite concrete, as in the examples given, or perhaps they are intangible intentions like opening up to more love, finding balance, or discovering greater peace. Whatever is in my heart, whatever comes up as I write my list of intentions is always perfect.

Before I write my intentions, I make the space to become clear, to allow something greater than myself to drop in and offer inspiration. Perhaps I’ll do a deep clean on my house or fix something that needs repair. I use the cleaning and repair process as a moving meditation and let it be a reflection of some part of myself. I usually retreat into nature for a few days, away from the sights and sounds of my everyday life and give my body the gift of a year-end cleanse. If I don’t have the time or space to get away, I’ll take a yoga class and/or meditate with the intention of allowing my heart to sing forth it’s deepest desires for the future. I always choose beautiful paper and good quality pens to make the practice more enjoyable and special.

I return to my list of intentions throughout the year; it can be like an anchor that connects me to hopes and dreams. In those moments when I may wonder why I am working so hard on something or making sacrifices in an area of my life, my list of intentions reminds me of the destination I am approaching. It can also be a time of reflection in which I realize my intentions have changed and I no longer wish to continue on a particular path. I may add to the list or I may cross off items that have been completed or are no longer relevant.

Sometime around the Winter Solstice I will again contemplate that year’s list. I reflect upon my accomplishments; give thanks for the blessings, guidance, and support I have received in bringing my intentions to fruition; and reflect upon those things that I am still working on. I write those intentions that I wish to carry over onto the new list for the coming year, and on New Year’s Eve, before creating my new list of intentions, I burn last year’s list to signify the end of one cycle.

There is something so powerful in this simple act of reflection and writing out my intentions. I honor and release the past, become rooted in the present, and create a road map for the future. The burning of last year’s list feels like a clean break, a fresh start; it is sort of like rebooting my internal computer. I let go of the past year and become focused on new goals. It is a recognition of the cycles of the natural world that continue endlessly whether or not we take notice. One more revolution around the sun as we move with the Earth in it’s never ending journey.

May your new year be filled with love, joy, peace, and blessings beyond your wildest dreams.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Jim G. – Yoga Del Mar Practitioner

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Jim G. YDM: What brought you to Yoga Del Mar?

JG: I came to yoga for the exercise. I have been a long-time competitive cyclist. I often heard that yoga would be good to augment my cycling and increase general flexibility (which can facilitate increased strength). I had tried yoga a few times, but it never fit well – either the location, or the schedule, or something did not fit. Three years ago I looked for a local studio and saw Yoga Del Mar on the internet, and on a Friday afternoon, I mustered the courage to attend what I call my first real yoga class, with Josh Vincent. And the next day I went to Geri’s class, and thus started my yoga journey. I was struck by how accepting and even inviting yoga instructors are, from the first class I felt I was part of the group. Yoga was so different than the competitive world I was used to – it is not a competition, it is about what you are doing for yourself today, and how you are connecting with yourself. After miles and miles and hours and hours of cycling over the years, I thought I had the foundation for a connection to myself, but in just a short time, I found that connection to be much deeper through my yoga practice at Yoga Del Mar. That “connection” translates to self awareness, self confidence and contentment, and openness in relationships with others. Just few months later, I completed Anusara Immersion 1 with Geri, and that deepened my knowledge of Anusara yoga and my yoga practice far more than I expected.

Empowering Future Generations

December 21, 2010 (Edit)

Nikyta's Signature "The hand is not so well adorned by ornaments as by charitable offerings." ~Chanakya

Dear Kula of Yoga Del Mar,

I first would like to express my deep gratitude for the work and involvement that all of you have done via the H&ands of Yoga Del Mar, and fundraisers for the Shuar tribe of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Thanks to your help, we arrived in the Tawasap Community, which is in the rainforest of Ecuador near Puyo, this summer in August. This is a short account of the magical adventure and exchange of knowledge we found there.

Shuar Tribe In the dark aliveness of the rainforest at night, were first greeted in the house of ritual, where after long conversations by candlelight we laid open our intentions and our hearts to Tzama, the community's charismatic and powerful leader, who also did the same. After this we were welcomed into the family compound with burnt orange facepaint, made from the dye of furry seedpods, which signified we were now initiated and welcome as guests. Over the next four days, we began teaching and empowering the youth of the village through media arts: digital video, photography, recording, and mastering. We had a very simple objective: to inspire the youth to be record keepers of their own history, and in doing so teach them skills they could continue after our departure.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles

Joyce L. – Yoga Del Mar Practitioner

December 16, 2010 (Edit)

YDM: What brought you to Yoga Del Mar?

Joyce L. - Another inspiring yogini at Yoga Del Mar JL: Actually, It was late January or early February (can't quite remember!) of 2009 when I came for my first class. I saw a coupon – I think in the Carmel Valley News – for a free class. I had been trying some yoga tapes at home for a month or so and quite a while ago tried a little ashtanga yoga for a few months. Also, my sister (she lives in Santa Fe, NM) had just started taking at an Anusara Yoga studio there was was telling me how great it was. I was definitely interested in yoga as a form of exercise, but I was also very interested in yoga as a spiritual path. I had read Stephen Cope's book "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" and was really at the beginning of trying to get away from just our "western" perception of yoga as exercise and discover yoga in its fullness. I went to the Anusara website, typed in my zip, and up came YDM! So, there I was, with a free class coupon, encouragement from my sister, a basic love of exercise, and a yearn for spiritual development. Everything just fell in to place. Bet you wished you hadn't asked!!!

YDM: Not at all! I love how everything came together so perfectly for you.

How has practicing yoga changed your life?

JL: Wow, in so many ways!!! It has been and will continue to be a great journey!

From a physical standpoint, it has been great. Exercise has always been a great stress reducer for me. It took a long while, but I finally got my flexibility back (I used to take LOTS of ballet classes). I think the best thing is how improvement comes in little steps, sometimes in an imperceptible way, but all of a sudden I will realize that I am doing something that I couldn't do before (even if it is just twisting a little farther). I'm definitely trying new things and being "very brave"….stepping out of my comfort zone. After a year and a half, I finally reached the wall for a hand stand! But it doesn't stop there, get one thing and there's lots more to work on! I LOVE arm balances!

Last year I took the level one immersion and plan on doing the level two course in 2011. There is so much to learn; I had to give myself time to absorb and work on all the material presented. The course was also a perfect way to blend the exercise with the spiritual. Being introduced to the yoga sutras, continuing reading other books on yoga, and learning more about yoga as a life path has allowed me to start to absorb at least a few steps of the eight-fold path in to my every-day life. It helps tremendously to not only enjoy life's simple pleasures but also to take the bumps along the road a little less reactively.

Yoga by Margaret Vanasse

November 9, 2010 (Edit)

Y O G A
churns inner freedom
energy from base
channels through
core heart mind
extends grace
urn of swirling
movement
sensations fill space
thankful from my toes
to my face
PEACE

Filed Under: Poems Tagged With: Margaret Vanasse, Poems, Yoga

Warming Squash Soup

November 8, 2010 (Edit)

Enjoy the flavors of fall and load up on immune boosting vitamin A with this simple soup!

1 leek, chopped
½ cup fennel, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped
4 cups butternut squash chunks
4 cups banana squash chunks
3 tablespoons ginger, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 fresh grated nutmeg
32 fl. oz. (1 qt.) vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Put all the ingredients–except the almond milk–in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 25- to 30- minutes. Remove from heat and let cool enough to touch. Transfer to a blender and add ½ cup almond milk (or use a hand blender right in the pot!). Puree until smooth. Transfer back to the saucepan and add the remaining almond milk. Stir to mix well and cook over medium heat until the soup boils.

Makes 4 servings
(Recipe from Saffron Restaurant)

Filed Under: Nourish Your Body - Recipes

Robin Z. – Yoga Del Mar Practitioner

(Edit)

Gratitude YDM: How did you find yoga and Yoga Del Mar?

RZ: I began in Iyengar yoga in St. Louis 11 years ago, with a teacher who had recently moved to the city and was hoping to begin a practice. When I arrived in Del Mar, eight years ago, I was looking for a small studio with various styles of teaching.

YDM: How has practicing yoga changed your life?

RZ: I was struggling with scoliosis, and posture after doing pilates and step for many years. Reaching my 50's I realized that yoga would better suit my spinal problems. As Geri and her staff continually say yoga has opened my heart to finding peace within my life. I have experienced greater energy and strength, and have been able to open my heart to everyone in my daily life.

(YDM: It's so true! You brighten the room when you walk in and everyone feels your loving presence.)

YDM: What is the one thing about yoga or that you have gained through yoga that you are most grateful for?

RZ: As I have practiced at various studios I am most thankful for the many teachers I have encountered who have encouraged me to expand my individual practice, as well as the wonderful students I have met through the years.

YDM: What would you say to someone thinking of trying yoga for the first time?

RZ: Hopefully, yoga will lift your spirits as it has mine through daily practice. I am happier and more fulfilled for finding the practice.

Filed Under: Articles, Inner Body Bright - Our Inspiring Kula, Kula Photos Tagged With: Community, Inspiration, Kula, Yoga

Thoughts About Autumn

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Gratitude By Beth Corrick, M.S., MFT, E-RYT

A friend from the Midwest once asked me, "How can you stand living in San Diego, it's perpetual summer? When do you get to hibernate?" It's true, living in California we do not have pronounced seasons and the activities associated with them. So, it's a bit of a dilemma when it comes to taking down time. Our ancestors knew the importance of fallow time; when the crops where rotated and the fields were allowed to rest. Autumn is the precursor to winter and is the perfect time to gather up our intentions for nourishing the soul.

Since our San Diego weather will not conspire to help us with reflective time we are invited to create our own rituals that will nourish and replenish us, perhaps, taking a morning to get up late, leisurely reading a book for pleasure, or starting a meditation practice. The most important aspect of creating a new ritual is that it be meaningful and resonant to you in a very personal way. It may take a few attempts to find the perfect soul-satisfying addition to your routine, but you will recognize it by how it makes you feel.

Just as we see in the cycles of nature, it is not possible to constantly run uphill. Respecting these cycles and allowing for contemplative time will paradoxically give you more energy in the long run. Mostly we are in prisons of our own construction, so finding the key to unlock the idea of permission to do nothing is a novel and shocking idea. This slow moving, contemplative time is an invitation to connect more fully with your heart's inner most desires and that can be scary, but so worth while. Often our inner most voice can only be heard when we quiet the din of the outside world. As Mohandas K. Gandhi said, "There is more to life than increasing its speed." When you take time to slow down your mind-body will be so grateful, the little things in life can be seen more clearly and there is space for more joy. The psyche understands the whispers of the seasons and we should shrive to honor them as well.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Autumn, Contemplation, Turning Within, Yoga

Anusara Yoga in New York Times

August 9, 2010 (Edit)

The founder of Anusara Yoga, my teacher, John Friend was featured in a multiple page article in the New York Times Magazine entitled "The Yoga Mogul." You can read the entire article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25Yoga-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1. It is an informative article discussing the philosophy of Anusara Yoga, different styles of yoga taught in America today, his personal history (including his yoga performance and work with the Yoga Ashram described in the book Eat,Pray,Love), and his plans for opening a center for Arts and Yoga in Encinitas.

I found the article informative and I found it to be slanted in a way that portrayed John much like a rock star of yoga. Yes, he does have a large, passionate following but he is also incredibly dedicated to the empowerment of each person he teaches. For me he has helped me to open to my own gifts, powers, and passion. I find him to be a stable, intelligent, loving, artistic teacher who has a charisma to lead and inspire. He has shown me the value of opening into the full spectrum of life both the light and the dark and holding it all in a grander field. And he was the first person to invite me into the spiritual journey of awakening.

John's response to the article in the New York Times can be found at http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/07/ele-exclusive-yoga-mogul-john-friends-response-to-sunday-ny-times-magazine-feature-article/. To find out more about Anusara Yoga visit their web site at www.Anusara.com or come to an Anusara class at Yoga Del Mar.

Filed Under: Anusara Yoga, Articles, John Friend Tagged With: Anusara Yoga, John Friend, New York Times Article, The Yoga Mogul

And the day came

January 24, 2009 (Edit)

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
—Anaïs Nin

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: Anaïs Nin, quote

2008 YDM Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Graduating Class

January 23, 2009 (Edit)

This is a beautiful picture of the 2008 Yoga Del Mar Anusara Teacher Training participants. Look at all of those radiant faces! What an incredibly talented group of women.

Magnificent Teachers in the Making

Filed Under: Kula Photos Tagged With: Anusara, Geri Portnoy, yoga teacher training, YTT

Photos from Ojai Retreat 2008

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Here is a slide show of photos from our 2008 Weekend Retreat in Ojai Valley. We stayed at a beautiful historic craftsman home designed by visionary architects Greene & Greene.

[tylr-slidr userID="34631091@N05" groupID=""]http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogadelmar/sets/72157612903898234/[/tylr-slidr]

Filed Under: Kula Photos Tagged With: 2008, Geri Portnoy, ojai retreat

Campbell Quote: Rapture of Being Alive

January 22, 2009 (Edit)

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I think that what we’re really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.
—Joseph Campbell

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: Joseph Campbell

May you find the path

January 18, 2009 (Edit)

May you find the path that will lead you

to the highest and truest of yourself.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

When I took my first yoga class more than a decade ago, I was a stressed out first year school teacher in the inner city of L.A. I came to yoga to calm my mind. Over the years, my mind has become more calm and peaceful. I also gained a stronger, more flexible body, a clearer, more focused mind, and a connection to a deeper part of myself — the very heart of my being.

Yoga has helped me to open the closed parts of myself both on a physical and emotional level. I am much more able to be more authentically myself now — more vulnerable on an outer level because I feel a deep connection on the inside to place of abiding strength within. Life has become more of a courageous adventure — one that continues to lead me to the “highest and truest” of myself.

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: Chardin, quote

The Journey

(Edit)

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice

though the whole house begain to tremble

and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

“Mend my life!” each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations, though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly recognized as your own,

that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do the only thing you could do –

determined to save the only life that you could save

- Mary Oliver

Filed Under: Poems Tagged With: Mary Oliver, poem

To see a world

(Edit)

To see a world in a grain of sand

and heaven in a wild flower,

hold infinity in the palm of your hand

and eternity in an hour

—William Blake

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: Blake, quote

So Fragile as We Grow

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Someday you will hear all things applaud your wonder.

Life claps in awe of the Divine’s performance.

When your veil is removed, you, dear –

you, everyone — will see that your being is Holy.

Who would want to sand before a mirror that was shattered,

and thus distorts our beauty

that is so fragile

as we grow.

An oasis for all life the soul becomes

when it is unveiled.

—Meister Eckhart

Filed Under: Poems Tagged With: Eckhart, poem

What you see

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It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

—Henry David Thoreau

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: quote, Thoreau

How Did The Rose?

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How did the rose ever open its heart and give to the world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being, otherwise we all remain too frightened.

—Hafiz

Filed Under: Poems Tagged With: poem, Rumi

Home Practice

January 15, 2009 (Edit)

An Interview with John Friend

by Kathy Carroll

For 15 years, I was a once-a-week yoga practitioner. Week after week my teacher would extol the value of home practice, but week after week I was too busy — too preoccupied — to heed her advice. About four years ago something inside me began to shift and I started to make the time to do yoga at home. At first I felt resistance; it took a lot of effort to get myself to the mat. Over time though, my home practice has become what is often the sweetest time of my day. Doing yoga at home is paying off on many levels. I am enjoying a greater sense of peace, more connection with that silent observer within. My yoga postures are becoming stronger and deeper. Just the other day my sister complimented me. “It’s not just the blue dress,” she said. “You are carrying yourself differently.” The world looks different when you carry yourself differently.

I am honored and grateful to John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga for sharing ways to help my own practice evolve and to help other students with their practice. This interview took place after an Anusara Teacher Training as we were driving through Washington, DC on our way to a party John hosted for students and assistants at Jane Fryer’s home.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: home practice, John Friend

Yoga – You’re Never Too Old To Start

(Edit)

by Adrienne Fortey

What does the word 'yoga' mean to you? Perhaps you associate it with an Indian mystic sitting in a trance high in the Himalayas, or with seemingly impossible contortions of the body. But, in fact, throughout the world millions of ordinary men and women have transformed their lives with the practice of this ancient science. Yoga is a system of postures, special breathing techniques and relaxation which act together to harmonize all aspects of the individual. It originated in India some 5,000 years ago and in our century a few forward thinking yoga masters have revised these teachings into the form we know today, making the benefits available to all humanity regardless of race, religion, nationality, occupation or age. Twenty minutes of yoga is worth hours of ordinary exercise. It is the way to good health and longevity, and will lead you to feeling youthful in body, mind and spirit.

Yoga is the natural way to free yourself from the pains and nervous tension which sap away the strength and vigour of body and mind. Everyone is capable of doing enough yoga to experience great benefits almost at once. This is true for those aged eighty and beyond as well as for people of all ages who have allowed their physical condition to deteriorate. Many yoga practices can be done in a comfortable sitting position, standing up or lying down. Yoga is not 'exercise' in the ordinary sense. With the slow, gentle movements of yoga you are able to stimulate and relax every part of the body from the toes to the scalp and from the muscles and tendons inwards to the deepest internal organs and glands. Yoga awakens the vital force within and, in addition, it is very enjoyable.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: aging, benefits, Yoga

About admin

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice

though the whole house begain to tremble

and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

“Mend my life!” each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations, though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly recognized as your own,

that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do the only thing you could do –

determined to save the only life that you could save

How did the rose ever open its heart and give to the world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light against its being, otherwise we all remain too frightened.

An Interview with John Friend

by Kathy Carroll

by Adrienne Fortey

Events and Workshop Schedule

How did the rose ever open its heart and give to the world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being, otherwise we all remain too frightened.